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Orwell Vs. Huxley

In Neil Postman’s passage in which he discusses the differences between Orwell’s 1984 and Huxley’s Brave New World, it is obvious he is telling us who’s novel is relevant these days. Though neither of these ideas on which the novels are based have come true for us, he is showing us why one of them has a greater meaning, and even more, a greater chance of actually coming true. Though Orwell has some very good ideas, most of them outdated in society today, while Huxley’s ideas are growing to be more and more present in society as new technologies slowly wean us off the ideas that we must work hard to get good results. Instead we let machines do the work for us.
To many people, technology is a great thing. Everyone uses some sort of computers in their everyday life, whether it be buying groceries or driving a car. While most technology is a good thing, sometimes, as this technology makes our lives easier, it causes us to use our brains less; a compromise most don’t even acknowledge. As Huxley presents it, this is what we must be worried about, not the government regulating our lives, but us regulating our own lives. He says that the oppression we face will be our own doing, but no one will have the capacity of thought to want to change things. We will love our oppression.
Though Orwell’s prophecy didn’t come true in America, that is not to say it is without merit. Many people took the date of 1984 into such large account that when the year passed, their worries vanished. 1984 was simply a title. A year just like any other in which this these events might take place. These events did not happen in America at all, however, so Orwell’s novel, while an interesting read, was only that; an interesting read, right? Just because none of those events happened here, does not mean that across the world in a communist country, oppression as told in 1984 was not a way of life. Orwell’s story has, or had, a lot of validit...